Galatians 3:13
But Christ has bought us out
from under the doom of that impossible system by taking the curse for
our wrongdoing upon himself. For it is written in the Scripture, “Anyone
who is hanged on a tree is cursed” (as Jesus was hung upon a wooden
cross).
The Living Bible
copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights
reserved.
Once in a while, there will be a post on
social media about “the good ole days”...in the vein of “do you remember
this?” or “do you know what this is?” There will be a photograph of
some gadget from a previous decade...and the object will be something
that perhaps we relied on every day - but now we have something
better/faster/easier to use that has replaced it. One example of this
might be a wringer washing machine. Say WHAT? Yes...a few decades ago,
people washed clothing in a big tub, then they pressed each garment
through two heavy rollers that squeezed out all of the excess water.
This was a far cry from the “spin cycle” of our modern-day washers!
Even
older is the rub board! I have my grandmother’s ribbed glass rub
board, on which she “rubbed” the clothes to get the dirt out. I also
have a wooden paddle that she used to stir clothing in a big iron
cauldron of hot water and lye soap! Not my idea of a fun wash day...is
it yours?!
Another gadget that some of you may still use today is
the ice cube tray. Most of these are made of plastic – or silicone –
today, but when I was a child, we had aluminum trays with a “handle” in
the middle that you lifted to separate the ice cubes and release them.
Of course, this usually resulted in shatters and shards of ice rather
than the nice, neat, perfectly formed cubes of our present-day
ice-making machines. And NOW, some of my friends even have “Sonic® ice”
machines that create the crushed ice like patrons of Sonic® drive-ins
enjoy.
My mom commented recently that she had seen two working
"pay telephones". She remarked that many younger people don’t know
about
pay phones - or phone booths...and will only see them in the media. We
both remember
the not-so-distant years when she and my dad were traveling and they
would search for a pay telephone in order to call home and check in with
us. There were no cell phones...much less texting, iPads, and Skype or
Face Time!
Here’s the thing... there are a lot of things from
the past that we would not wish to return. Who among us wishes there
were no cell phones and that we had to rely on finding a pay telephone
or dialing 0 for Operator in order to accomplish some of our
communications? I enjoy going to my refrigerator and getting a cup of
ice cubes or crushed ice. I would not want to spend an entire day or
two slaving over a hot iron wash pot filled with laundry and caustic
soap...nor would I want to have to crank a “wringer” to get the water
out of every garment before I hung the clothing on a line to air dry!
By
the same token, I would not want to have to kill an innocent lamb or
calf every time I committed a sin. I’d never get anything else
done...and neither would you! Because you see, we are ALL sinful,
despite our best efforts to behave otherwise. Just like many of us take a
daily dose of medicine to keep certain ailments at bay...or vitamins to
boost our immune systems...we need a “daily dose” of Jesus to keep us
spiritually healthy. And because of his amazing love, grace, mercy – and
sacrifice on the cross – the “old ways” of atonement are forever gone
for those of us who have accepted His great gift of salvation.
We
need the “daily dose” of Jesus to keep us healthy...to boost our
spiritual “immune systems”...but when we give our hearts to Jesus, we no
longer have to worry about the old laws that required continual
sacrifices of animals...rituals to cleanse our souls...intermediaries to
petition God on our behalf. Jesus healed ALL of that! And I, for one,
can never thank Him enough!
My question today is this...are you
living in the “modern world” of Jesus’ healing grace and mercy? Or are
you stuck in the past? Do you know the joy of living well, fit, and
strong with Jesus? Aren’t you ready to begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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